


Friends in Tight Spaces

by FallenFeathers



Series: Discovering Destiny [4]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Bonding Time, Gen, Gwaine isn't Arthur's biggest fan, Gwaine talks too much, Merlin doesn't need saving, the boys ride to save Merlin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2019-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 10:47:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21895711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FallenFeathers/pseuds/FallenFeathers
Summary: Merlin's been missing for a few days. Naturally, Lancelot and Gwaine ride out to find him.
Relationships: Gwaine & Lancelot (Merlin), Gwaine & Merlin (Merlin), Lancelot & Merlin (Merlin)
Series: Discovering Destiny [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1577164
Comments: 6
Kudos: 237





	Friends in Tight Spaces

Lancelot sighed as he saddled his horse. This was not how he had planned to spend his day. Arthur had given him and the other Knights of the Round Table, that’s what Merlin had started calling their little group of peasant knights, the day off to celebrate the harvest. Lancelot had planned on using his free time to visit the market and participate in whatever festivities were going on in the lower town, because no matter how long he was at court he still preferred the company of peasants over most of the nobility, but Gaius had found him first.

The court physician had found him right after breakfast with troubling news. Merlin was missing. In and of itself Merlin being missing wasn’t anything particularly new. Arthur had been bemoaning his manservant’s tendency to spend days on end at the tavern only yesterday. However, Lancelot knew that whenever Merlin “disappeared” it was usually to foil a magical plot against Camelot. And Gaius was worried. That alone was enough to concern Lancelot that his friend might have gotten into more trouble than he could handle on his own. What had the knight worried where Merlin had apparently gone, The Valley of the Fallen Kings. Lancelot silently cursed his friends inability to ask for help when he needed it. The Valley of the Fallen Kings was home to bandits and slavers, not to mention the many beasts that called the Valley home. Gaius had told him that Merlin had gone looking for something, he didn’t specify what but Lancelot knew it must have something to do with Merlin’s magic or else Gaius would have gone directly to Arthur with his concerns.

So wrapped up in his thoughts and preparing his horse as he was, Lancelot didn’t notice that someone else had joined him in the stables.

‘I don’t think this is what Arthur had in mind when he gave us the day off, mate.’

Lancelot ignored the voice and finished checking he had everything he might need before leading his horse towards the door.

‘You’re going to look for Merlin,’ Gwaine said.

This made Lancelot pause. ‘Why would you think that?’

‘Well,’ Gwaine stepped forward, and blocked Lancelot’s path, ‘I was about to do the same thing myself. I haven’t seen Merlin since he told me he had to pick herbs for Gaius, and that was days ago. And don’t tell me he’s been in the tavern all day, because I’ve actually been in the tavern every day and I would have noticed if Merlin was there.’

Lancelot, who had been about to tell Gwaine exactly that, faltered. ‘Are you going to stop me?’ He really didn’t want to have to knock his fellow knight out, even if it was tempting sometimes.

Gwaine laughed. ‘Stop you? Mate, I’m trying to join you! You and I both know that boy gets into more trouble than a fox in a hen house. Whatever he’s gotten himself into this time, I want to help.’  
Well, Lancelot thought, I should have expected this. It was no secret that each of the Knights of the Round Table had a soft spot for Merlin, but if Lancelot had to pick which one was closest to the Prince’s manservant, he’d pick Gwaine. The two had an easy familiarity and Gwaine, when he wasn’t convincing Merlin to pull pranks with him, was the first to speak up for him. But still, even knowing how fiercely protective Gwaine was with Merlin, Lancelot wasn’t sure he could bring someone who didn’t know about Merlin’s magic with him.

Gwaine, who must have noticed his hesitation, interrupted his thoughts. ‘If you say “No, Gwaine I can handle it. Don’t Trouble yourself.” I’m going to follow you anyway, so you my as well just say “yes.”’

‘Alright, fine,’ Lancelot relented. It was no use trying to tell Gwaine not to do something.

‘Wonderful!’ Gwaine whistled and his horse, already fully saddled and equipped with supplies, trotted faithfully to him. ‘I was worried I’d gotten Gringolet all dressed up for nothing,’ he said as he fed the horse an apple.

Shaking his head, Lancelot led them out of the stables and towards the main gate. As quickly as he wanted to find Merlin, he didn’t want to draw any unwanted attention to their quest by riding through the courtyard. If anyone saw them, they’d think they were just two men going for a days ride. Neither knight wore their usual armor or red cloaks that marked them as knights of Camelot. They didn’t mount their horses until they were on the edges of the lower town.

‘So, where do we start?’ Gwaine had found an apple in his bags, his words on vaguely distinguishable as he took another bite.

‘The Valley of the Fallen Kings,’ Lancelot said, urging his horse into a gallop.

‘Never make it easy, do you Merlin?’ Gwaine tossed his half eaten apple aside as he spurred his Gringolet to catch up.

‘And that,’ Gwaine finished, ‘is why I’m no longer allowed in seven of the thirteen taverns in western Gwynedd.’

This, Lancelot thought, is why Elyan braided your hair when you passed out last week. Although that particular prank had backfired when Gwaine had proceeded to keep braiding his hair, saying it “accentuated his handsome features.”

They had entered the Valley of the Fallen Kings around midday, and Gwaine hadn’t stopped talking since. Lancelot couldn’t be mad at him though. Even as irritating as Gwaine’s stories might be, they were preferable to the eerie silence of the woods around them. It almost made sense that Merlin would come here, although he couldn’t feel it, Lancelot was sure the place was riddled with magic.

‘So, any idea where Merlin might’ve been picking herbs then?’ 

Lancelot shook his head. ‘Gaius could only tell me that there were specific herbs that only grew here, not where in these woods. We’ll just have to look for any tracks Merlin might’ve left.’

Dismounting, they made their way on foot to look for tracks. Lancelot wasn’t sure how many they’d find though. As clumsy as he was, Merlin made a habit of only being found when he wanted to be. They would have to get really lucky if they were going to find their friend.

‘At this rate,’ Gwaine complained some time later, ‘Merlin will find us long before we find him. He probably up a tree laughing at us now.’

‘Have you seen Merlin climb?’ Lancelot knelt to look at some tracks. ‘It’s like watching Arthur dance.’

Gwaine laughed. ‘I wouldn’t let either of them hear that if I were you, my friend.’ He offered Lancelot an apple from his seemingly endless supply. ‘I’m going to scout ahead a bit. Make sure we don’t run into anything too unpleasant.’

Lancelot shook his head. At least now he wouldn’t have to listen to any more of Gwaine’s ridiculous stories. He continued looking at the tracks on the road. There were a lot more than he’d have expected, most people went out of their way to avoid this area. It made looking for the footprints of a single man difficult. They would probably have better luck simply following the road and hoping they found someone who could point them in the right direction. Lancelot collected their horses and started to follow after Gwaine when he heard a shout.

Worried about what kind of trouble Gwaine could’ve gotten into this time, Lancelot took off at a run. His expectation was to find the other knight fighting off a number of bandits or something similar, but when he neither heard or saw any signs of an ongoing struggle, he paused. All around him the forest was quiet. Slowly he made his way forward, sword drawn,, eyes and ears on alert for any potential ambush wishing to take him off guard. A moment later, Lancelot was falling through the earth and everything went black.

Lancelot awoke with a start and immediately groaned at the banging in his head. Without opening his eyes, he reached up to feel a rather impressive lump that was forming on the back of his skull.

‘You’re lucky that’s all you hit on the way down, mate,’ a familiar voice said.

Opening his eyes, Lancelot took in his surroundings. ‘Gwaine?’ The other man gave a half hearted wave from where he was sitting across from him. It appeared that they had both managed to fall into a deep pit.

Sunlight shone down into the hole high above them, letting Lancelot see that the pit was a perfect circle, almost eight feet across. The walls were by no means smooth, but no roots protruded from the walls to use as handholds. Someone, for the knight had never known nature to be so methodical, had even made sure the dirt that made up the walls was hard packed so anyone trapped would have a difficult time making their own handholds. Lancelot also noticed that there was a small alcove that contained a waterskin and a satchel that presumably contained food. Whoever had made the pit clearly had wanted to make sure anyone caught in their trap could not easily escape on their own, but it didn’t seem as though they wanted them to die either.

‘My money’s on the druids,’ Gwaine answered Lancelot’s thoughts. ‘There’s nothing physical covering that hole, but we both walked into it completely unaware. So, there’s gotta be some kind of magic behind the illusion that only those with magic can see through. Bandits wouldn’t care if we starved, and besides,’ Gwaine shifted himself with a wince, ‘this hole is far too nice to have been their doing.’

‘You’re hurt.’ Lancelot got up to see to the other knight even as Gwaine waved him off.

‘I just landed wrong. It’s fine.’ Lancelot ignored him and started examining what was an obviously injured leg. ‘Just give it a second for the swelling to go down and I’ll be right as rain.’

Lancelot raised an eyebrow as he lightly pressed on the other man’s leg and Gwaine winced. ‘I’m pretty sure that leg is broken.’ He might not be a physician, but he, like most of the knights, was familiar with his fair share of broken limbs. ‘Not much we can do about it until we get out of this hole though.’

‘No worries then,’ Gwaine snarked. He winced again as Lancelot helped him shift to a more comfortable position against the hard walls.

‘I’m sure the druids will come by sooner or later.’ Lancelot inspected the water skin before passing it to Gwaine. ‘They’ll heal you.’ Gwaine just nodded as he drank.

They sat in silence, neither giving voice to their worries and concerns. Knowing that there were druids nearby relieved some of those concerns for Lancelot though. They must have been the reason Merlin had come out all this way. Hopefully he was still with the druids and could get them out of this mess, he thought.

Lancelot wasn’t sure how they would explain that to Gwaine. He knew Gwaine wasn’t averse to magic. He also suspected the knight was likely more loyal to Merlin than Arthur. It would be a dark day if any of the knights had to make that particular choice, Lancelot thought. One Gwaine wouldn’t have to worry about if they didn’t get someone to look at that leg soon.

‘I wonder if the Princess will take more of an interest in our disappearance,’ Gwaine mused, breaking the silence.

‘Than he did in Merlin’s you mean.’ Lancelot sighed. Gwaine only shrugged in response, but Lancelot knew that he likely had a lot to say on the matter. ‘Arthur cares about Merlin a lot more than you think.’

‘He sure has a funny way of showing it,’ Gwaine grumbled.

‘Did Merlin ever tell you how he became Arthur’s manservant?’ When Gwaine shook his head Lancelot continued. ‘He saved Arthur’s life from a sorceress trying to take revenge for the son that Uther had killed. Uther rewarded him with a position in the royal household.’ Gwaine rolled his eyes. ‘The way I heard it Merlin and Arthur had the same reaction. But then, maybe a month later, Merlin drank poison meant for Arthur. He almost died. He would have died if Arthur hadn’t gone on a dangerous quest for the antidote. Which he did against Uther’s express orders. I believe the words were something along the lines of “if you can’t watch him die, then don’t watch.” ‘ Lancelot was grateful Gwaine was learning this in his current state, because judging by the look on his face, he was plotting a number of treasonous things. ‘Uther never held much regard for servants.’

‘Oh, I know,’ Gwaine said. ‘He banished me for attacking a knight who would have killed Merlin.’

Lancelot nodded. Merlin kept him up to date on the various going ons in the castle after he’d left. ‘So, maybe you can understand that Uther wouldn’t tolerate his son caring so much for a servant, and that his son wanted to make his father proud and keep someone he considered a friend close.’ He hoped he was getting his point across to Gwaine. ‘Arthur and Merlin developed a way of communicating that’s hard to understand. Although there really isn’t hiding how devoted Merlin is to Arthur.’

Gwaine squinted at him. ‘How do you know all of this?’

Now it was Lancelot’s turn to shrug. ‘I’ve had more time to watch them.’ Gwaine made a noise that clearly said what he thought of that answer. ‘Okay,’ Lancelot conceded. ‘I had similar concerns when I first came to Camelot. Guinevere told me what she knew, and a few things she suspected.’ He paused, chuckling to himself. ‘Apparently the first time Arthur and Merlin met, Gwen said it was Merlin’s second day in Camelot, and he started a fist fight with Arthur. She couldn’t tell me what happened exactly, but that was why the first time she met him he was in the stocks.’

‘Merlin tried to fight Arthur? In a fist fight?’ Gwaine was clearly struggling to picture how that would have gone down.

Laughing, Lancelot nodded. ‘I asked Merlin about it, but all he’d say was “the Prat had it coming” and he hadn’t known he was the Prince at the time.”

Gwaine shook his, not bothering to hide his amusement. ‘Sometimes I don’t think I give Merlin enough credit.’

‘I don’t think any of us really do,’ Lancelot admitted quietly. He changed the subject before Gwaine could ask what he meant. ‘Do you understand now? Arthur doesn’t think he can openly show that he cares.’ When Gwaine didn’t say anything, he continued. ‘Haven’t you ever noticed that whenever Merlin doesn’t show up where he’s supposed to be Arthur won’t stop talking about it? He can’t say that he’s worried and wants to go looking for him, so he complains hoping someone will take an interest and find Merlin. Or at least find out what happened.’

‘None of us would think less of him if he did,’ Gwaine argued.

‘The knights might not, but the nobility certainly would. You saw how Agravaine reacted when he realized Arthur had knighted four peasants.’

Arthur’s uncle had not been happy. Even after Arthur had put his foot down and Agravaine had seemingly accepted them, the man actively avoided dealing with them. Lancelot couldn’t say he minded though. There was something about Agravaine that Lancelot didn’t trust. It might have been how the man always second guessed Arthur’s decisions, or how he seemed to be close with the more conservative nobles, or it could be the way Merlin always looked at the man with suspicion. He’d asked Merlin about Agravaine once, but Merlin had only said it was a feeling he had. Lancelot had learned to trust the warlock’s feelings, so he kept an eye on Agravaine when he could.

‘Maybe Agravaine would stop giving us such dirty looks if I challenged him to combat,’ Gwaine suggested. ‘That’d show him.’

Lancelot resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Gwaine might not go looking for trouble, but he certainly wouldn’t say no if it crossed his path. At least that would be the case if Gwaine wasn’t the one causing trouble to begin with, he thought.

Gwaine had just opened his mouth, likely to tell him another of his tales, when they heard movement above them.

‘Bandits?’ Gwaine whispered so they wouldn’t draw unwanted attention.

Shaking his head, Lancelot held his sword at the ready for all that it was worth. If it was druids he wouldn’t fight them, and if it did turn out to be bandits he couldn’t cause much harm from the bottom of this pit.

Suddenly a head appeared over the edge of the hole. ‘Hello?’

Gwaine looked at Lancelot eyes wide. Lancelot could hardly believe it himself. ‘Merlin?’

‘Does Arthur know you two skipped training to sit at the bottom of a hole?’ Laughter floated down to them as Lancelot sheathed his sword.

‘We came out here to look for you and this is the thanks we get? At least get us out of here before you start laughing at us, mate.’ Gwaine tried to get up, but fell again wincing.

‘Merlin,’ Lancelot called, ‘Gwaine’s hurt. There’s some rope in our saddlebags, if the horses are still nearby. We’re going to have to pull him up.’

Merlin disappeared, hopefully to find the horses. It wasn’t long before he was back and threw down a line.

‘You go first,’ Gwaine said. ‘Once you’re up I can tie myself to the rope.’ When Lancelot didn’t immediately agree, he gestured for him to get going. ‘Merlin won’t be able to haul me up on his own, mate.’

Lancelot nodded, accepting the logic even if it went against everything for him to leave Gwaine in the pit on his own. The climb wasn’t particularly difficult, but his arms were burning by the time he reached the top. Looking at the hole, Lancelot could see the illusion. It was somewhat transparent and extended a little away from the edges of the hole. It was easy to miss if you didn’t know it was there.

‘I’m glad you found us,’ Lancelot said. ‘Not sure I could listen to another one of Gwaine’s stories.’

‘I heard that!’ Gwaine shouted from his place in the hole. ‘If you two are done gossiping, I’m ready.’

Merlin rolled his eyes, making Lancelot chuckle as they got ready to haul the injured man up. It was slow going. Neither of them wanted to jostle Gwaine’s leg, or worse drop him, but Merlin must be stronger than he looked because it was a lot easier to pull Gwaine up than it probably should have been.

‘How did you find us,’ Lancelot asked as they worked. He wanted to find out the truth before Gwaine joined them.

‘The druids told me that two men they suspected were Camelot knights had fallen into one of their traps.’ Merlin shook his head. ‘They realized you must have come looking for me. If I hadn’t been there they would’ve gotten you out and healed Gwaine while you were sleeping.’

‘Nice of them.’

‘Well,’ Merlin huffed between breaths, ‘they would’ve erased a couple days worth of memories, too.’

‘Inconvenient,’ he said. ‘I wouldn’t mind forgetting some of Gwaine’s jokes though.’

‘My jokes are good,’ Gwaine defended as they hauled him out of the hole. ‘You guys just don’t have any taste.’

‘Says you,’ Merlin quipped. ‘Let me see that leg.’

Gwaine must have been in more pain than he let on because he didn’t argue. Then again, Lancelot realized, Gwaine almost never argued with Merlin. Of course, that was unless they were arguing about Arthur. Lancelot thought over what that might mean as he coiled the rope.

‘Well,’ he heard Merlin say after a while, ‘it’s not broken.’ Lancelot looked up and saw his confusion mirrored on Gwaine’s face. ‘Looks like you just sprained your ankle pretty bad and that caused the swelling. You should be able to put some weight on it, but I wouldn’t recommend standing for too long. Stand up if don’t believe me.’

Tentatively, Gwaine stood up with a little help from Merlin for balance. Lancelot watched carefully. He wasn’t a physician, but he knew that leg had been broken. But from the way Gwaine was all but dancing on the considerably less injured leg, he thought he had an idea about what happened. Merlin caught him looking and winked. That confirms it, Lancelot decided.

‘You should be alright in a few days,’ Merlin was saying. ‘You shouldn’t have too much trouble riding for now as long as you take it easy.’

‘See, Lancelot,’ Gwaine teased. ‘I’m fine.’

Lancelot shook his head. ‘I guess that’s why we’re knights and Merlin is the physician’s apprentice.’ Gwaine laughed and patted Merlin on the shoulder before going to see to Gringolet, who was waiting nearby with the other horses.

‘Don’t say it,’ Merlin said once Gwaine was out of earshot. ‘I know it was risky, but he wouldn’t have been able to ride with his leg broken like that.’  
Lancelot held up his hands. ‘I wasn’t going to say anything. But since you mentioned it, that was extremely risky.’ He was rewarded with a glare. ‘Thank you, though. We came all the way out here to get you out of trouble and it was you who rescued us.’

Merlin shrugged. ‘I know I shouldn’t have stayed so long, but the druids had so much to show me.’ Lancelot could only grip Merlin’s shoulder in support. He knew how keeping his magic wore on his friend.

The trio made good time getting back to Camelot. The festivities in the lower town were only just ending as they rode through. At the castle, Merlin quickly left the two knights to make his excuses for his absence to Arthur. It wasn’t long before the knights parted ways to get some much needed rest from the days adventures before training the next day.

If Lancelot had noticed the way Gwaine had kept looking at Merlin on their way back, like the Prince’s manservant was a puzzle he had yet to put together; or wondered that Gwaine had never asked exactly what had kept Merlin out in the woods for so long, then such thoughts were forgotten the way things easily are amongst the pleasant dreams of deep sleep.


End file.
